1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to locking license plate holders, and more particularly pertains to a license plate holder which prevents unauthorized removal of a license plate and also removal of the holder from a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of locking license plate holders are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a locking license plate holder is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,156,806, which issued to R. Ducey on May 2, 1939. This patent discloses a license plate holder formed by two hingedly connected cover plates which are securable together by a key actuated locking mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 2,388,349, which issued to C. Storm et al on Nov. 6, 1945, discloses a license plate holder formed by a pair of slidably overlapped plates having telescoped hook flanges to engage the edges of the license plate. A rack and pin mechanism is provided for relatively sliding the overlapped plates. U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,986, which issued to J. Meyer on Aug. 21, 1951, discloses a locking license plate holder including an elongated rod provided with a laterally disposed T formation adjacent one end. The T formation has a head extending at right angles to the rod and a lock including a case is disposed in interlocked condition with the other end of the rod. U.S. Pat. No. 2,710,475, which issued to H. Salzmann on June 14, 1955, discloses a locking license plate holder having a transparent cover plate and including a key actuated locking mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 3,432,954, which issued to J. Ford on Mar. 18, 1969, discloses a license plate holder having a transparent cover plate and a backing plate disposed within a frame for securing a license plate therein. An apertured flange on the backing plate is receivable through a slot on the frame for engagement with a conventional padlock.
While the above mentioned devices are directed to locking license plate holders, none of these devices disclose a locking license plate holder which utilizes a rotary locking cylinder in conjunction with a pair of linearly reciprocal locking rods selectively insertable through transverse apertures provided in a pair of spaced retaining pins. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of locking license plate holders, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such locking license plate holders, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.